Meat quality is always subject to consumer scrutiny when purchasing from retail markets on
mislabeling as fresh meat. Repeated cycles of ‘freeze-thaw’ degrade the quality of meat. Existing
studies have primarily embarked on physical, chemical and biochemical changes induced by
variable storage conditions. The authentication of fresh versus thawed meat quality can be
further explored with the data involving a series of biochemical pathways that were largely
well-studied in living muscle tissues. However, these pathways are less predictable in postslaughter
condition where muscle turns to meat. In addition, there is far less known about how
various management or environmental stimuli impact these pathways, either by substrate load
or altered cellular environment during storage. Though the rate of post-slaughter metabolism
is quite important in driving meat quality development, it is also fairly well established.
Alternatively, the biochemical mechanisms responsible for the cessation of postmortem
metabolism, or protracted carbohydrate metabolism are particularly puzzling. Likewise,
there is little information about the relationship between volatility profiles of biomolecules
with regards to functional groups, enzymatic activity, protein solubility and protein surface
properties in meat during storage. The studies of these changes could be used to distinguish
between fresh and thawed meat.